The Rogue Romance
by Zekuran
Summary: When a new student comes to the institute, he is a total enigma, with a seemingly dangerous feral mentality. What happens when the resident loner decides to take a closer look? Can she look beyond the actions of his past and see his humanity?
1. Killing Intent

**Okay people; let me set the timeline for you for this story. It starts just before the mutants are revealed to the public. This will diverge greatly from the cannon, sharing only a few things in common with it.**

**Disclaimer: I will not own X-Men Evolution for the entirety of this story. I set up the disclaimer this way because I always forget about it.**

Rogue awoke to the obnoxious sound of someone, probably Scott, pounding on the door. "All right, all right, ah'm up!" Rogue nearly shouted, propping herself up on her elbow as she did so. The knocking ceased followed by the sound of steps going down the hall. Rogue collapsed back onto her pillows with an exasperated sigh. She looked at her clock, and was annoyed to see that it read 5:30. _Why does the Professor always schedule meetings before school? What's wrong with canceling a Danger Room session so the meeting can take place after school?_ Rogue thought to herself as she went about the business of getting ready for school. The weather was too cold for her usual clothing, so instead she pulled a pair of jeans, as well as one of her few t-shirts, out of some drawers. She then looked over at the sleeping form of her roommate, sighing as she did. Nothing could wake her up. Well, nothing except one thing. Pulling her jacket out of the closet, Rogue tossed it and her other clothes onto her bed, then walked over to Kitty's side, where she poked her roommates forehead with the tip of one bared finger, maintaining contact for only a split-second. Still, this was enough to cause the unfortunate Kitty to bolt upright, as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped on her.

Katherine 'Kitty' Pryde glared at her slightly gothic roommate. All Rogue did in response was point at the clock. Still glaring, Kitty glanced at the clock, her eyes widening at the time. Jumping out of bed, she bolted to the bathroom, running past the clock that now read 5:38. Smirking slightly, Rogue hurriedly got dressed, glad that she had taken the precaution of showering the previous night. It was better to be able to take your time to eat then to try to shove everything down as quickly as possible. That would come back to bite you later in the day. Rogue looked at herself in the mirror, and then grumbled as she took off her shirt. She may look good in the dark purple shirt, but it didn't cover enough skin. Going back to her dresser, she pulled out a long sleeved black undershirt, slipping it on before pulling back on the purple t-shirt. Grabbing her green wool jacket, she pulled it on as she went to the dining room, which was unusually empty. Still, the young teenager was often alone, and really, she preferred it that way. Enjoying a leisurely breakfast, she sauntered casually into the Professors study, where the meeting was being held, with three minutes to spare. Already in the study were Scott and Jean, the red headed beauty standing beside Scott, not a hair out of place._ As usual._ Rogue thought, before carefully blanking her mind. It was a reasonable precaution in a room with two powerful telepaths. Immediately behind her were Kurt, Evan, and a harried looking Kitty. Once all the senior students were gathered and the door closed, the Professor began the meeting.

"I'm glad all of you could make it to this morning meeting on time." the Professor said, with a sidelong glance at Kitty, who had been the last one into the study. "The reason I arranged for this meeting is so that I could inform all of you that a new mutant will be joining us here at the Institute today, and specifically, he will be joining the senior X-Man team once he has settled in." he said, looking at his students as the information settled in.

"Professor, why would he be joining the senior team so quickly? Wouldn't it be more prudent for him to get a handle on his powers before he joins either the junior or the senior teams? Besides, we don't even know who he is, let alone what he can do. I think it would be safer if he was put in with the junior students until he gets the hang of his powers." Scott said, trying to put the authority of his position as the senior team leader behind his words.

"Scott, the primary reason that the other students don't act as part of the senior team isn't based on whether you trust them or not, it is based on their mastery of their powers, moreover, this boy has had his ability for the last six years, and has reached a level of control over it to rival Ororoe's control over her own. This is no regular boy." Professor Xavier said, his calm words seeming to bore into the ears of those all around him. All this did was cause Scott to begome to become exasperated.

"You're saying that we will have to trust him with our lives when we don't know anything about him? Professor, how are we supposed to do that?" Scott asked in an irritated tone, crossing his arms as he did so.

"Scott, I'm going to ask you to give this boy a chance before you turn him away entirely. I believe that he will be a great asset to the team, as well as a valued companion to you all. Now, as for who he is, allow me to introduce you to him. You can come in now." Professor Xavier said, the last sentence louder than the rest.

The door to the study opened, and in walked a boy that Rogue guessed to be about seventeen years old. He was tall, just over six foot, but painfully skinny. He couldn't have weighed more than 140 pounds. He had jet-black hair, but his eyes were strangely colored. They were a stunningly vibrant electric-blue, and they seemed to carry a look that made him seem far older than his years. Rogue watched as he slowly scanned the room with his eyes. When they passed over her, Rogue couldn't help the shiver that went down her spine. There was something in those eyes that terrified her, but she was slightly startled to find that she was strangely attracted as well. She couldn't see why she was attracted to him. While he was the kind of boy whose looks would normally have been considered handsome, there was something about his eyes that seemed to say 'stay away'. She looked at him closer, and noticed that he carried himself fully erect, standing tall and proud, but giving the impression that he was a coiled spring, and he could be unleashed at any time. Looking at his clothes, most of them were normal, she decided, with just one eccentricity. His clothing consisted of a pair of black jeans, some worn out sneakers, and a long-sleeved grey shirt. The oddity she had noticed was the thin, tightly fitting vest that seemed to be made of some sort of black fur. It was then that she smelled something slightly off in the air, and she felt a warm flush go through her entire body. Hearing a whimper, she looked over to see Kitty practically drooling over the newcomer. Logan walked in behind him, then growled as he sniffed the air. "Dial it down a bit, kid." Logan said, then moving over to lean against the Professors desk.

The boy's expression never changed, but Rogue suddenly lost her short-lived desire to jump his bones, despite the very real likelihood that that would make her a necrophiliac. She gave Logan a questioning gaze, but all he did was nod in the new boy's direction. "Pheromones." the newbie stated simply. Something about the pitch of his voice, not deep, but not high either, along with the torn, ragged sound it had, sent even more shivers down her spine, though this time they were of fear, though Rogue didn't show it. "I unconsciously produce them. I'll have to work on that.

"Allow me to introduce you all to Zeke Marlin. Zeke, this is Scott Summers, Jean Grey, Evan Daniels, Kurt Wagner, Kitty Pryde, and Rogue." Professor Xavier said, pointing to each one as he named them.

Zeke's eyebrow quirked at hearing Rogue's name, his first facial expression of any kind. "That can't be your real name." he said, looking pointedly at Rogue.

"It's not, but ah don't see how my real name is any of your business." Rogue retorted, trying not to let him see that she was halfway pleased, halfway irritated, that he was talking to her.

Zeke snorted. "You know, emotions cause various chemical reactions in the body? You shouldn't bother to hide whatever emotions you may be experiencing from me, because I can smell those reactions, and I can interpret the smell. It is nothing but a wasted effort to hide any emotions from me." he said nonchalantly, studying the nails on one hand.

Professor Xavier chose that moment to speak again. "The exact nature and extent of Zeke's power is unknown to me. However, I will reveal what I do know. Zeke produces pheromones, whether he wants to or not, and these pheromones are capable of manipulating the moods of those around him based on his mood, and what he wants them to feel. The pheromones seem to be secreted from the sweat glands at the base of his neck. His senses, with the exception of touch, are all greatly enhanced, beyond anything any of you here can dream of. The most enhanced of these senses are smell and hearing. In addition, it would appear that he has a feral temperament greater than Beast's, and that aspect of his power is the only one he has difficulty controlling. Taking this into account, I would like to discourage all of you from angering him unnecessarily." he said, looking pointedly at Kurt. Kurt just scowled, seemingly affronted. Suddenly, a deep snarl cut through the air. Startled at the sound, Rogue whirled in its direction, only to find a very different Zeke, the sight of which froze her in terror. The snarl alone was discomforting, deeper than seemed possible for his thin frame, but the sound of the snarl seemed to fade as she caught a glimpse at his eyes. No longer an electric blue, they were now a dirty yellow, and had the slit-pupils of a cat, but there was something more than that that made Rogue's inside freeze, and she wasn't the only one. Kitty had a death grip on Logan's arm, and Logan, though he looked ready to fight, seemed slightly unsure. The Professor was watching the whole thing, though she could tell by his face that he was trying to reach Zeke telepathically. Scott and Jean were holding onto one another, and Evan and Kurt were on their butts on the ground, quivering in what Rogue assumed to be terror. Smelling the air, she realized it was thick with something._ Those pheromones must be nasty in an up-close fight. Ah wonder why ah haven't been affected? _Rogue thought to herself, starring at what she thought was the person who would end her existence, and everyone else in the room as well.

At that moment, Zeke noticed the terrified stares, and stopped snarling, his eyes quickly reverting back to their original shape and hue. He looked faintly apologetic. "Sorry, I just happen to be a really secretive person. That was how I react when some of my secrets have been ferreted out by someone I barely know. How did you manage to figure all of that out?" Zeke demanded to know, his irritation and anger dripping like potent venom from each word.

"My apologies. Part of them were found out by Cerebro, which I will show to you later, and the rest, as much as I would like to stay out of all of your heads permanently, I can still pick up the louder thoughts. This is something I do unintentionally, but a telepath as powerful as me can't help but pick up on the thoughts of all those around me." the Professor replied, trying to placate the angry mutant.

Zeke grunted in reply, then turned to Rogue, and to the surprise of everyone in the room, bowed deeply before her. "I always give my respects to the bravest ones around me. You weren't nearly as far gone in terror as the rest of them were. All of you are brave, I mean, most people I've met would have wet themselves in terror before my anger. Rogue , you were the bravest of them here. Now, if you would be so kind as to excuse me, I have things that require my attention before I go to school." Zeke said after he straightened, then he turned and left the study, leaving a shocked silence in his wake.

Ten minutes later, the meeting was officially adjourned, with the understanding that there would be a Danger Room exposition of Zeke's powers. As Rogue grabbed her backpack and got into Jean's SUV, her thoughts turned to the incident in the study. He had been lying about why he was angry. She knew, because he hadn't been looking at the Professor, the supposed object of his rage. Instead, his gaze had been riveted on something outside the window, something only he had seen. She was fairly sure she wouldn't have been afraid at all, if it weren't for his eyes. The eyes were what had seized her, those eyes that had born the weight of sorrow, and at that moment, had been filled with something else, something that only Logan and her could have put a name to. That something else had been what she knew was pure, killing, intent.

Hours later, 3:02 in the afternoon

Rogue trudged towards Jean's car, her eyes fixed on the ground in front of her. Her day had really sucked. People were still looking at her like she was a freak, just because of the way she dressed. Hearing an angry shout, she looked up to see Evan being tormented by the school bullies, and this time, they looked serious. Rogue watched in horror as one of them took a bat out of a bag they were carrying, and started to swing it towards Evan. _This is just great. They're going to be chewed up spat out by Evan, and then we're all going to be lectured by the Professor. Not the way I wanted to spend the rest of my day. _Rogue thought, everything seeming to slow down as the bat neared Evan's arm, until the flow of time seemed to move at a snail's pace. Why then, did Zeke, who she saw out of the corner of her eye, move so quickly?

The bat was stopped a full two feet from Evan's arm, the end being gripped by Zeke so hard that Rogue could hear the wood creaking. Once again, Rogue saw his eyes fill with killing intent, though this time his eyes remained their normal color. The effect on the bullies was instantaneous. Without a word being said, they turned and ran. Seeing Rogue watching him, Zeke began to walk over, tossing the bat away as he did. Coming to a standstill before her, Zeke once again bowed deeply before her, his body bent at an acute angle, left arm bent across his back, right arm held out, palm facing upward. Rogue felt her face getting warm, and realized, with a great deal of chagrin, that she was blushing. Zeke straightened, and upon seeing the warm red of her blush, gave a slight smile. The effect on Rogue was pronounced. Her heart sped up so much she could feel her entire body thrumming with it, and her blush deepened so much that she was sure that if someone were to poke her face with a stick it would spontaneously burst into flame. Her blush only continued to deepen when she realized that Zeke probably knew everything going on with her at that moment._ Stupid enhanced senses._ Rogue thought. Zeke's smile continued to deepen, revealing some slightly pronounced incisors, but still small enough to look like a regular humans. "In case you were maybe wondering, I have my pheromones rather tightly controlled right now, so this is all you." Zeke said, and Rogue could hear the amusement in his sore-sounding voice.

_Is it my imagination, or does he sound like his voice is doing better than it was this morning?_ Rogue thought to herself, looking closely at Zeke.

"Well, I should probably be going. I'll see you later, eh?" Zeke said as he began to back away, before he turned and walked away, the sway and grace of his walk astounding to Rogue. To her, it was like watching predator stalking freely among the prey.

Rogue's heartbeat resumed its normal rhythm as she walked to Jean's SUV, making sure that Evan was fine along the way. As they pulled away from the school, Rogue was stewing angrily in the back seat. Evidently, Kitty had seen the exchange between Rogue and Zeke, including Rogue's blush, and was teasing her mercilessly.

A short drive later, along with a quick change, and the X-Men, both junior and senior teams, filed into the Danger Room control booth to see the skills of their new teammate. Looking down, Rogue was startled to see that Zeke had no shirt or shoes on, though his bare feet were mostly covered by the cuffs of his black jeans. His upper body was what caught Rogue's attention, and not because it was rippling with very lean muscle, but because of what was on it. On the inside of his left forearm was tattoo of a prowling wolf, while running down the edge of his right arm, in big, block, letters, was the word 'Lycanthrope', the letters stacked one on top of the other. However, these were secondary to Rogue's gaze. On Zeke's abs and chest, both of which were incredibly ripped, were some very nasty looking scars.

From just under his right armpit, extending diagonally down to the top right of his abs, was a ropy, two inch wide, scar. That wasn't the only one. Extending from one side of his stomach to the other, running directly across his abs, were four scars, each parallel to the other, and a half inch wide each. They looked like some giant wild animal had taken a great dislike to him. Turning his back to them, he stretched, and Rogue' got a good view of his broad shoulders, and the expanse of his back. The scar she had noticed first, the one that ran from his right armpit, was on his back as well, extending in an unbroken line nearly to his spine. "What happened to him?" Rogue asked aloud, her voice filled with horrified awe.

Even Logan seemed surprised by what he saw. "I don't know, kid. It looks like something big tore through him." Logan said, glancing at Rogue.

"What do you mean through?" Rogue asked disbelievingly. There was no one that could survive that much of their body being cut into.

"How else would he get a scar like that?" Logan asked her.

Rogue couldn't come up with any answer, so she remained quit, though now she couldn't help but notice that those scars made him seem more appealing.

"Now, he said he had some sort of long range fighting ability, so we'll set up some targets." Logan said, pushing a few buttons, causing five holographic images to appear in front of Zeke. "Zeke, try to take out these targets as quickly as possible. Try to be as accurate as possible as well." he said to Zeke over the intercom. Zeke flicked his right hand forward, and the targets all disappeared as he returned his hand to his side.

Logan grunted in surprise. Turning to the camera bank, he played back the last few seconds in slow motion. Rogue and the others watched in surprise as the nails on his right hand lengthened, thickened, and turned a black color. Their full length looked to be about two inches, and they all watched as they shot off his fingers at an incredibly high speed, each hitting a separate target. "Those things have to be moving at six hundred feet per second, at least!" Spyke exclaimed, looking at Zeke in awe as Cyclops nodded his agreement.

"Let's see just how hard they are." Logan said, pressing yet more buttons on control board, this time causing materials of varying degrees of hardness to come from the floor, from a square patch of woven wool, to a steel plate that was an inch thick and two feet wide, as well as two feet tall. "Slash the hardest material that your claws can cut through." Logan informed him over the intercom.

With a disgusted air, Zeke grew his claws, this time on both hands, and advanced upon the steel plate. Stopping in front of it, he wrenched the plate from its mounting and threw it up in the air like it was a feather. As it was coming down, Zeke's arms move four times, and the pieces of the plate rained down around his feet. Looking up at the control room, Zeke glared. "Give me a real challenge!" Zeke roared, obviously angry about something.

"Kid wants a challenge, huh?" Logan muttered to himself before he stood and exited the room. The other X-Men looked with pity at the tall figure in the Danger Room. It seemed that Rogue was the only one not worried about him. She was quite confidant in Wolverine's abilities, but something about Zeke said that he knew what he was doing. When Nightcrawler started a pot on how fast Wolverine would win, Rogue was the only one who bet that he would lose to the new guy. The others looked at her as if she was crazy, but Wolverine chose that moment to enter the Danger Room, his mask pulled up and his claws unsheathed. "All right bub, you wanted a challenge, you've got one." Wolverine growled, preparing himself to fight.

"I'll be the judge of that." Zeke said, and with those words, his whole demeanor and the way he carried himself changed. He closed his eyes as he settled into a battle stance, his unclenched hands pointing fingers first at Wolverine. Rogue and the others watched as his claws grew, and he opened his eyes. The senior members were only faintly surprised to see his eyes had changed to the slit-pupiled, dirty yellow, that they had been that morning. Then he grinned, no, it was more like he bared his teeth at Wolverine. Rogue was rather surprised to see that his teeth had reshaped themselves into fangs, the incisors of which were about a half inch long, giving him a fierce appearance that Rogue definitely didn't want to see in a dark alley late at night.

Wolverine glared at Zeke. There was no need for words or instructions of any kind. It was quite clear what Zeke had to do, and he seemed very happy to oblige Wolverine. Wolverine charged at Zeke, giving a wordless growl as he did so. Zeke, by contrast, was absolutely silent as he moved forward as well. Zeke threw himself onto the ground, his momentum allowing him to slide as he maneuvered himself so that his right side was pointed towards Wolverine. Wolverine, seeing this, assumed that Zeke was trying to knock him over, and jumped over Zeke, unwittingly playing right into Zeke's hands. Everything seemed to slow down for Wolverine as he flew over Zeke's body at a perpendicular angle. Suddenly, Zeke's entire body convulsed, flinging him into the air. Caught totally by surprise, Wolverine could do nothing as Zeke hooked his left arm around the juncture of his neck, and his right arm through the fork of his legs. He began to struggle as Zeke twisted in mid-air, managing to hit the ground knees first before he hurled Wolverine into it. As Wolverine bounced, he felt Zeke's right fist connect with his solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him. Regenerative capabilities be damned, that didn't mean that being hit didn't hurt. The last thing Wolverine felt before he lost consciousness was a two-fingered jab to one of the pressure points in his neck.

All of the X-Men stared in open-mouthed awe. All, that is, but one. However, even Rogue was startled by how quickly Wolverine had been beaten. She'd had a felling the Zeke was good, but to be that good? The entire match had lasted maybe four or five seconds._ Ah already knew he was fast because of school today, but to take out Wolverine like it was nothing? That shouldn't be possible! How did he knock him out anyway?_ Rogue thought to herself, glad that Zeke had retracted the claws on his left hand before making the jab that had ended the fight. Zeke stood up, looking even more pissed than before. Sending a glare in the direction of the control room, he turned and exited the Danger Room, leaving the unconscious Wolverine on the floor.

As the Danger Room door hissed closed behind him, the control booth door slid open to admit the Professor and Storm, the invalid man's nearly constant companion. Seeing Wolverine unconscious on the Danger Room floor, both of them froze in surprise, though Storm quickly recovered and began to issue orders. "Cyclops, you and Jean go see to Wolverine. Nightcrawler, you and Rogue go see if you can find Zeke. Evan, I want you to explain exactly what happened here." Storm ordered, obviously distressed to find her long-time comrade in such a predicament. All the while, the Professor simply looked on, his eyes contemplative. Leaving the control booth, Rogue and Nightcrawler heard Spyke giving a hurried explanation to his aunt.

**A short time later**

Rogue looked up into the branches of the tree in front of her._ Twenty minutes of searching, and ah find him in a tree, of all places._ Rogue thought, glaring up at the familiar figure sitting on the trees upper branches. "Hey! Get down here! There are some people that want to see you!" Rogue shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth to make sure that her voice carried to him. The figure dropped out of the trees, landing in a crouch barely a foot in front of her. As Zeke straightened, Rogue noticed with some regret that he was again fully dressed, though he had foregone the tight fitting grey sweater from the morning, wearing only the fur vest.

"Who wants to see me?" Zeke asked, glancing at Rogue.

"Probably the Professor and Storm. More than likely to ask you about how you learned to fight." Rogue answered, not voicing her own questions, though she was sure that Zeke knew she had some.

"I'm guessing they aren't the only ones with questions for me. Go on, ask. I swear, I don't bite people." Zeke said, giving a sidelong glance at Rogue as they walked.

"Well, ah guess that ah do. This morning, in the Professor's study, you weren't really growling at any of us, were you?" Rogue asked, though she already knew the answer.

"No, I wasn't." Zeke stated calmly as they continued to walk.

"Then what were you looking at?" Rogue asked, vaguely surprised that he was answering honestly.

"I suppose that you could call it a mistake. A mistake from my past that foolishly followed me. That's all I'll say about it for now. I guess I had better hurry. I don't want the Professor to wait too long for me to get there. See you later, Rogue." Zeke said, waving as he began to jog away.

It wasn't until she thought about it that she realized his voice had changed again. Now full bodied, the sore, tearing sound had been replaced by something she identified as a constant purr. Gone was the voice that had sent shivers of fear down her spine, and in its place, a voice that sent shivers of an entirely different sort throughout her entire body.

**Okay, I know that some might say that Wolverine can't be taken out so easily. He has a metal skeleton and his regeneration ability. For one thing, Zeke hit a pressure point, he didn't break his neck, and also, hitting pressure points leaves nothing to be regenerated. Sometimes hitting a pressure point with enough force can knock somebody out. It would definitely work on Wolverine, as he can be knocked out, it has happened before, with alarming frequency.**

**If you have any questions about the chapter, I would like to hear them. Go to my profile page, and send me a message. Go on, I swear I don't bite.-Zekuran**


	2. Nightmares of the Past

Hey you guys! I am so sorry about the long time between posts. I've had a lot of stuff pile up on me, and my laptop fizzled out on top of all of that. I am truly sorry. I will do my best to ensure that it never happens again. My laptop is still a little fizzy, but I'm sure that it will be completely fixed soon. Enough of my endless jabber, and now onto the story!

Rogue's POV

The week after the arrival of Zeke had been relatively quit, without so much as a single peep from the Brotherhood, which bothered Rogue a great deal. They usually caused havoc and general mayhem at least once a week, and their silence was disconcerting. Still, things hadn't been totally quit and peaceful. There had been one hiccup for the feral mutant. Rogue lounged on the steps of the institute, letting her thoughts wander back to earlier that morning.

Flashback- 1:00 A.M. Saturday morning

_Rogue's eyes snapped open as a horrifying, raw-throated screaming ripped through the mansion. Jumping out of her bed, she stumbled into the hallway before catching herself and running for the source of the noise: Zeke's bedroom. She wasn't the only one attracted by the noise. Scott, Evan, Kurt, Kitty, and Amara were running there as well, and they had just reached the door when the screaming became roaring. The roar was so primal and terrifying that Rogue's legs simply stopped working. Gritting her teeth, she yanked herself to her feet, leaning against the wall heavily. She was luckier than many of the others. Of the others, only Scott was still on his feet, though he looked a bit shaken. Evan, Kurt and Kitty were trying to drag themselves to their feet, while Amara had simply passed out. In retrospect, Rogue thought that she might have been the lucky one, as she missed what happened next. Zeke tore through the heavy wooden door as if it were made of paper, his claws fully grown and lethally tipped. He stood on top of the splintered remains of the door, dressed in nothing but a pair of jeans, his arms wide and head tilted back. He roared again, swinging to face Rogue, and she saw the telltale yellow of his eyes. There was something different this time. Rogue was shocked to see that the whites of his eyes were a blood red. The combination of the two colors was eery, to say the least. Curiously, when his eyes met Rogue's, he completely froze, becoming absolutely still. Rogue watched, riveted by awe as his eyes slowly changed back to their vivid electric blue. Backing away from Rogue, he looked around, and Rogue noticed that Scott had collapsed again._

_Walking past Rogue, Zeke paused and turned, looking at the remains of the door, and the condition of the other X-Men, his face torn between amusement and misery. "I'm sorry." He said, and Rogue could hear the sincerity in his voice. Zeke seemed to be unable to tear his gaze away from hers for a moment, before he tore his gaze away and looked at the remains of the door once again. "I'll fix the door myself." Zeke said, amusement winning over in his voice. With that said, he turned and disappeared down the hall, leaving the others to finish pulling themselves from the ground, and for Rogue to release the breath she hadn't even been aware she was holding._

End Flashback

Standing up, Rogue entered the mansion, quickly going up the stairs as she headed for Zeke's room. Turning the corner, she stopped as she was greeted by an amazing sight. Zeke hadn't fixed the old door itself, a fact made obvious by the wrecked pieces of the old door piled against the wall. However, there was a new door, and it was so incredible that it took Rogue's breath away. The door by itself wasn't really great, but Rogue watched as Zeke put the finishing touches on an awe-inspiring carving of a lounging wolf, while in the background there were several shadowy and indistinct shapes moving. Through some trick of the carving, it seemed as if the wolf was breathing. "That's… amazing." Rogue breathed, unsure if amazing was, well, amazing enough to describe it. She could only imagine the skill it must have taken to carve that into the wood.

Zeke turned to look at Rogue, seemingly surprised that she was bothering to talk to him. "Thanks." he said hesitantly. "Listen, about this morning-" he began, but Rogue cut him off.

"You've apologized once already. I don't know about the others, but one apology is enough for me. It wasn't really your fault, I mean, whatever that was obviously wasn't you. What I want to know is what caused it. You haven't told anybody about it, and you should share that with us." she scolded, irritated at his inability to get over it. In an instant, he had crossed the intervening space and was right in front of her, his face inches from hers as he hunched to accommodate her smaller height. His eyes filled her world, thier exotic color seemingly bottomless, and her breathe caught in her throat. Rogue was no coward though, and stood her ground, not even flinching. Leaning closer, Rogue went absolutely still, unable to move for fear of touching him.

"Believe me when I say this, you do not want to know the cause of it. Let it be sufficient to say that there are things in my past, things I've done and things I've seen, that give me the most horrifying of nightmares. It makes it difficult for me to sleep soundly at night." he said, so softly that Rogue had to strain to hear him. He leaned even closer to her, and Rogue could almost feel him, and the temptation to close that miniscule space was almost unbearable for her. Then suddenly, he was gone, and Rogue once again felt a shudder go through her. Confused as she was, she was sure that something almost earth shaking had begun between them.

Zeke's POV

He supposed that the girl had a point. He had begun to apologize far too many times. _Ah, how I have fallen. Once I was a proud warrior, and now, I must sound like some sort of sniveling coward. I suppose that I should try to curb that habit._ He thought to himself as he walked down the hall, away from the beautiful girl who was wreaking havoc on all of his senses. No one should look that good, smell that good, or be nearly as endearing in their expressions as she was. He was terrified that he would lose what little self-control he had around her if he were to accidentally touch her. He still had yet to find out what her power was, but he was sure that it would be as unique and intoxicating as he found the rest of her. He would be honest with himself, he had nearly kissed her, and if he had, things would have gotten very interesting, even for him.

Rogue's POV

_What just happened here?_ Rogue asked herself. More to the point, what could have happened that gave him nightmares like that? His cryptic remarks were unsettling, to say the least. He may have given an answer to her question, but now she had a dozen more, and nobody to answer it. Walking through the Institute, lost entirely in thought, she took a meandering path to the garage, where she saw Logan working on one of the Institute's recreational ATV's. _Maybe Logan knows something about Zeke._ She thought as she walked in Logan's direction, her feet taking her there seemingly of their own accord. "Logan, I have a question for you." Rogue asked, stopping next to Logan's toolbox.

Logan grunted, tightening one last bolt before wiping his hands on a greasy rag. "What kind of question, kid?" he replied, beginning to put his tools away.

"I want to know everything you know about Zeke." She said, shuffling uncomfortably, her voice raised over the slight clattering of tools.

"You're askin the wrong guy. All I know is what little the Charles has told me." he replied, putting the toolbox on a shelf before wiping his hands on yet another rag.

"That'll at least be a start." Rogue muttered.

"All right. Pretty much all that Charles has told me is that he's incredibly intelligent. Apparently, once he learned the Charles and Jean are telepaths, he began to think in a completely different language, some obscure variation of Gaelic. All that tells me is that he has something he wants to hide from the rest of us, and doesn't want to risk any kind of accidental reading by Jean or the prof. It must be important to the kid. Other than that, he's a total mystery to me. Charles might know more, but I doubt that he knows anything very important. Seems to me that the only one here who can answer your questions about Zeke is Zeke himself." Logan said as he walked out of the garage.

Rogue frowned. _So Zeke's some kind of genius?_ she thought to herself, worried that she would never find out anything definitive about him. She would need to divert her attention away from the mystery surrounding Zeke. _Maybe I'll read Dracula again._ she thought, already heading to her room to get it.

Zeke's POV

Walking through the halls of the Institute, Zeke paled as he felt a wave of bloodlust go through him._ Damn!_ he thought, tensing up and leaning against a nearby wall. In moments, it had passed, but he knew it was only a temporary reprieve. If he didn't do anything about it soon, it would steadily worsen until he lost all control of himself. He would be little more than a monster until the rabid monster inside had spilled enough blood to be sated. He could not allow that to happen. _I have a chance for peace here. The assassins of The Pack no longer dare to attack me on pain of death, and my control over my powers is precise. I will allow no foul-ups, least of all from myself._ he thought, lost within the workings of his mind, though not so lost as to be unaware of his surroundings. Hearing a whistling sound, he ducked, watching with almost clinical detachment as a brown, wood-like, spike flew through the air his head had just vacated. On instinct, Zeke crouched and whirled, his claws and fangs grown, only to be greeted with the sight of the miserable Evan Daniels standing twenty feet ahead, looking at him with an expression of pure horror on his face. Evan had caught a slight head cold, and unfortunately for him, as well as everyone around him, every time he sneezed, spikes would shoot out of him at random angles. Kurt already wouldn't be sitting right for at least a week. Zeke sighed, and then he turned away, retracting his claws as he did. He needed to hunt. Maybe Logan knew a place where he could hunt in total isolation.

Rogue's P.O.V., Sunday, 1:00 P.M.

Rogue and the rest of the X-Men exited the Danger Room, feeling every muscle throb. Logan's workouts were something to be feared, not celebrated. However, one face had been conspicuously absent. "Logan, where's Zeke?" Scott asked, his face an odd mix between annoyance that a member was missing, and self-satisfied smirk that he had been right, Zeke wasn't ready for the responsibility of being on the senior team.

"He's hunting." Logan replied shortly as he made his way to the control room, where the Professor was waiting.

"So he's out there enjoying himself while we're in here training until we drop?" Scott nearly shouted the look on his face incredulous.

"Scott, believe me when I say that the reason that he's hunting is for anything but personal enjoyment." the Professor said, looking away from the camera bank, where he had been watching their latest seemingly impossible exercise.

Scott's eyes narrowed behind his visor. "There's something that you're not telling us, isn't there?" he asked, his voice almost literally dripping with suspicion.

"Your right, but please, don't ask me to reveal secrets that aren't mine to share. If you wish to know, you'll have to ask Zeke yourself." the Professor replied, his tone weary. "If he tells you or not is entirely up to him, but don't be surprised if he doesn't tell you. There are depths to Zeke that are bottomless, and if he doesn't fully trust you, he will not lie nor tell the truth.

Zeke's P.O.V., six hours later

Zeke moved lithely up the drive. With any luck, he'd be able to get inside and cleaned up before one of the other students saw him. The monster inside of him had some messy hunting habits, and the blood splattered across his bared chest was a testament to that fact. Still, the monster was sated, and he had a few more weeks of peace before he would have to hunt again. After a near miss with Kitty and Kurt, he was nearly to his room. Luckily, the two of them had been to busy talking to one another to notice him. Turning into the hall with his door, he began to curse internally, because his luck in avoiding confrontations had run out. _I was so close, too. _was all he had time to think before Scott, obviously startled by the bloody Zeke turning the corner ahead, pushed up his glasses and blasted him with the concentrated force of his optic beam, hitting Zeke in the chest and hurling him through the wall like a rag doll and into open air. _I guess I can't blame him for overreacting._ Zeke thought before he lost consciousness, and the monster inside of him began to surge to the front.

Hitting the ground hurt. It always hurt, but this time, the pain was exactly what he needed. Jolted into consciousness, he quickly halted his inner monster's bid for control. Standing up, he looked to where Scott was looking through the hole Zeke had made when he was thrown through the wall. Zeke casually raised his hand and flipped him off. Lowering his hand, he began to move back toward the mansion, but he hadn't even made it three feet before he was assaulted by an alluring and familiar scent. Turning, he spotted a wide-eyed Rogue sitting against a tree, a book lying forgotten in her lap. To most people, it would have been uncomfortably cold to be relaxing and reading outside. _I guess she values being alone. _he thought.

Rogue's POV

Rogue leaned against a tree, her nose buried in her copy of Dracula, which she was reading for the fifth time. As interesting and climactic as the heroes' battle with the gypsies was, even that didn't make her totally numb to her surroundings. When a crash came, she looked up just in time to see Zeke hit the ground with w thudding noise. When he got back up, he gave the mansion the bird before moving towards the door. He paused, the suddenly whirled, effectively catching her staring. He quirked an eyebrow, then his expression became thoughtful. Leaning down, he yanked a large chunk of wood out of his calf, and Rogue couldn't help but wince. _Doesn't he feel that?_ she thought. Obviously he didn't, as he began to walk towards her with no trace of a limp. "You know, most people would be cold right now." he said in a conversational manner.

Rogue didn't answer for a moment. She was busy looking at the dried blood that covered his upper body. "What happened to you?" she asked.

He looked at his chest. "Oh, this isn't my blood. It's the blood of the animal I was hunting."

"What exactly do you hunt with, grenades?" she asked, both awed and repulsed at the same time.

"I don't really know, since, for all intents and purposes, it's not me that's hunting." Zeke said ruefully. "For all I know, I do use grenades."

"What do you mean it's not you doing the hunting?" Rogue asked, thoroughly confused.

"It works much like Hank's inner beast, and how he keeps it tamed with quotes from Shakespeare and other playwrights. My own inner monster is far more complex, and more deeply violent. The only thing that it will settle for is the spilling of blood, and if it comes out on its own, then it's not too picky about what, or who's, blood it is. When that happens, I become nothing more than a moraless, unthinking monster, incapable of mercy, glorifying only in the blood all around me." Zeke said, and Rogue could see the miserable acceptance of his life in his face, and for some reason, that tore into her heart like a rusty spike. "It's actually pretty easy to tell when it happens, seeing as how the whites of my eyes turn blood-red."

"Like they did Saturday morning?" Rogue asked, realizing just how much danger she had been in.

"You noticed that, did you? You're fairly observant. I've run that scenario through my head at least a dozen times, and by all rights, you, Scott, Evan, Kurt, Kitty, and Amara should all be dead right now. I don't know if I was just plain lucky, or if there was something more. I'm extraordinarily grateful that it didn't end in bloodshed." he replied, absentmindedly pulling more splinters of various lengths from his arms. "Hey, do me a favor; get the wood out of my back." He said as he turned his back to her.

As Rogue began to pull the splinters from his back, he couldn't help but notice her aversion to touching him. "You know, it's funny. You know more about me than I do about you. I'm not used to being the one in the dark. I find it rather uncomfortable." Zeke said.

"Is there anything in particular you want to know, or should I just start listing my entire life's history right here." she replied, her voice dripping in sarcasm.

"Let's just start at your real name, and then we'll go from there. We have a while before we have to go to sleep for school tomorrow, and you may make a dent in the life story bit later." he replied, throwing her sarcasm back at her.

Rogue couldn't help it; she giggled, and then froze in mortification. People could call her many things, but a giggler had never been one of them. She wasn't sure why, but for some reason, being this close to Zeke was making her too damn girly for her tastes. "I suppose I can tell you, but if you ever call me by that name, I will cheerfully castrate you." Rogue said, and the promise in her words was as hard as iron.

"Dangerous bit of information, that." Zeke muttered under his breath.

Rogue continued, brutally suppressing the urge to giggle again. "My name is Anna-Marie. Now that you know, you can leave me alone." she said, though she knew Zeke had no intention of leaving her alone anytime in the near future, a fact that she was strangely comfortable with.

Zeke stood up and stretched. Turning, he looked down at her, and his smile was overwhelming to Rogue. "My dear, I don't think I have the capability to leave you totally alone. You're just too damn interesting. There's so much more I want to know about you. You're brave, free with threats, there are any number of things that you are that for some reason have me completely enthralled. I really hope that you aren't easily annoyed, because you're never going to have a single waking moment free of me. However, I suppose this conversation is over, at least for the moment, so I'll see you tomorrow." he said, and then bowed yet again before walking away; leaving a breathless Rogue sitting against her tree, her book completely forgotten as her heart rate slowly began to settle. She had come to the conclusion that Zeke had the most devastating good looks when he smiled.

Over the course of the next week, Zeke proved to be as good as his word, transferring into her classes, even into her poetry class, where he startled her by writing a poem entirely in Irish. "An Roghnaithe An Morrigan? What does that even mean?" she asked him.

"It means 'The Chosen of the Morrigan." he replied, his face totally calm when faced with her consternation.

"The who?" Rogue asked, more confused than ever.

"The Morrigan, Celtic goddess of battle, strife, and fertility. She's supposedly present at every battle ever fought." Zeke answered before taking it to the teacher.

The only upside to him being so close all the time was that she got to see his reaction to Toad and the Blob.

Zeke was standing by her locker, watching her rummage through it, when he reached out and pulled her away from the door. Her reprimand froze on her tongue when she saw Toad's tongue fly through the space where she'd been. "What's up Rogue?" Toad asked, walking up with the ever-present Blob at his shoulder.

"Nothin' that would make me want to talk to you." she retorted, barely stopping a shiver of disgust from going through her. Something about those two made her skin crawl. "In fact, why don't you get out of here. Nobody should have to see your face for any extended period of time, Toad."

Toad seemed to be about to say something else when Zeke's hand clapped down on his shoulder. "You heard that lady, small-fry, so get out of here before you irritate me."

What Toad did next proved he was either very brave, or far more likely, very, very, stupid. "Get off of me!" Toad snarled, slapping Zeke's hand away, and then swinging for his face.

The fist never got that far, as it was enveloped in the crushing grip of Zeke's right hand, bringing Toad instantly to his knees. As Toad began to moan in pain, Blob began to move forward, and what happened next happened almost too fast for Rogue to see.

Grabbing Toad by the base of the neck with his left hand, Zeke catapulted him bodily into Blob with enough force to bowl him over, and in the next instant was helping them to their feet, carefully emphasizing that Toad shouldn't try to move so fast, people could get hurt. Rogue giggled again, then glared at Zeke and stomped away, with Zeke in hot pursuit.

"You know, you're really starting to irritate me. In case you haven't noticed, I'm a bit of a loner, and I like to be alone." Rogue snapped that evening when she came out of the bathroom to see Zeke leaning against the wall across the hall.

"Ah, but are you a loner by choice or by necessity? I do know what your power is, and your far to nice a person to want to purposefully place yourself into a position where people can be needlessly hurt, so You've fallen into the habit of keeping almost totally to yourself, but you don't necessarily like to be alone." Zeke replied, his voice level.

Rogue groaned and stormed away, absolutely infuriated by his constant calm. Later that night, after she had forcefully sent Zeke to bed, she was tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep. She was torn between being angry with Zeke, and feeling bad about how she kept snapping at him. She made a decision totally on impulse, exiting her and Kitty's room and walking down the hall and around a few corners before stopping at the work of art that was Zeke's door, knocking quietly; she went into the darkened interior. She hadn't even gone three steps before the lights flashed on.

Zeke's POV

Zeke knew who was knocking the second the door opened, letting in a puff of air that carried her scent with it. When she had closed the door and taken the first few steps into the room, he flipped on the lights. With an exclamation, Rogue whirled, and her expression when she saw him was a strange twist of apologetic and enraged._ Be willing to bet that I've t looked like that a couple of times._ Zeke thought, preparing himself to receive yet another scolding. It was getting to be habit forming. Though he had made one discovery that boggled his mind: He found her giggle to be very endearing. To his extreme surprise, the anger in her face cleared almost instantly. "Listen, I was wondering if we could just sit and talk." Rogue asked, her head hung slightly.

Looking around, Zeke realized that he didn't really have the furniture for visitors to his room. He had a small bed that was shoved against one wall, a desk, and a hard wood chair._ I'll have to get more comfortable furniture. _he thought. Holding up his hands for her to wait a moment, he arranged the pillows against the wall so that the bed would serve as a comfortable chair, then sat in the wooden chair, gesturing for Rogue to take the bed.

Rogue's POV

Rogue watched Zeke's industrious creation of another place to sit with a bemused expression, but she still sat where Zeke had piled the pillows together. To her surprise, she found it to be very comfortable, and was quickly more relaxed than she had been in her own bed. "Listen, Zeke, I really just came over to say that I'm sorry that I've been snapping at you. I really do appreciate that you've decided to, I don' know, look out for me, but I do know how to take care of myself. You don't have to be so extremely vigilant for my sake. Still, thanks for helping me out with Toad and Blob the other day." Rogue said, averting her eyes from his, bringing them to rest on his desk, and more importantly, the stereo on it. "Were you listening to something?" she asked when she noticed that it was on.

Zeke seemed thrown off by her change of subject, but he went with it. "Yeah. My hearings really good, so the walls in here had to be soundproofed, and as an added bonus, the soundproofing should keep everyone in the mansion from running straight into danger when I'm having a nightmare. Still, I can't stand total silence, so I play this one thing on repeat the entire night. It helps with my nightmares." Reaching over, he turned the volume knob, and Rogue heard a howling noise. "That's the howling of wolves in the wild. It's deeply relaxing for me."

On that, Rogue could definitely agree. As she listened to it, she steadily became more and more relaxed, and very soon, her eyes had drifted shut, leaving her to wander the twisted corridors of nightmares and dreams.

Zeke's POV

Looking at the girl who had fallen asleep on his bed, Zeke suppressed a laugh. Getting to his feet, he shoved the chair to the side and looked at the floor. It was obvious that he was going to sleep there, and there was really only one way to make sure he had a comfortable sleep. _This kind of sucks. I hate pushing my powers that far. It hurts._ he thought morosely as he curled up on that floor. The snapping of bones popping in and out of place failed to awaken Rogue, and Zeke contentedly laid his head on his paws and fell asleep.

Rogue's POV

The alarm clock blared loudly, and Rogue's eyes snapped open. For a moment, she was confused, but then she remembered coming to Zeke's room the previous night._ I must have fallen asleep, and I guess Zeke didn't want to wake me._ she thought as she slowly sat up. Her foot hit something big and furry, and she looked down, and froze. She had seen something that would have had most people screaming: an impossibly large wolf opening its eyes and staring at her.

Again, I just want to apologize for the delay. I ran into some unexpected problems with the plot, so I had to sort that out, then deal with school, then deal with my laptop wigging out on me. It hasn't been a fun couple of months. That being said, see that little button right there that says review? Give into the darkside and push it. You know you want to.


	3. Fixation

**I would like to apologize for my long absence in this story, as I have had a lot going on. For my readers, I would like to thank you for being so loyal as to wait. I honestly don't know when I'll update again, so this chapter has a little fluffiness to tide you all over.**

Rogue was transfixed for a moment, awed by the wolf's sheer size. Then she screamed bloody murder. Well, that was what she meant to do, but all that came out was the most pathetic eeping sound she had ever heard. The next moment, she felt a wave of absolute calm wash over her. She watched with detached emotions as the wolf slowly got to its feet, its size so large that it made the entire room seem tiny. Surging up, the wolf's front paws left the floor, and there was a flurry of sharp cracking sounds as its shape slowly altered, at times bulging, but mostly shrinking, before it quickly settled into Zeke's familiar form. With one more sickening crunch, Zeke's arm popped back into place, and he grinned at her, his enlarged canines quickly shrinking. The calm Rogue had been feeling vanished at that moment. "Sorry about that. I had to calm you down, and my pheromones can be useful for more than just inspiring lust in beautiful girls such as yourself, and terror in my enemies. Surprised you with the whole wolf thing, huh?" Zeke said, grinning sheepishly, which Rogue thought was absolutely adorable.

She couldn't help it. She started to giggle uncontrollably. After a few minutes, her giggle fit ended. Looking at Zeke, she noticed him staring at her with an unnerving intensity. The look in his eyes struck her dumb. "I need to go get dressed." she stammered, the excuse to leave sounding lame even to her, before she hurriedly exited the room, all but running to her room. Opening the door, she ran head first into Kitty, who was on her way out.

Stumbling back, Kitty quickly recovered, pushing past Rogue and sprinting down the hall without even a muttered apology. _What the hell's her hurry?_ Rogue wondered, entering the room. Closing the door, she allowed herself to fall against it, before slowly sliding down it. Hugging her knees, she started to cry. Rocking back and forth slightly, silent sobs escaped her. The reason for all this was what she had seen in Zeke's eyes. The only thing she could think of that even held a candle to his stare was what she imagined a drowning man's eyes looked like when he saw a lifeline. Trust, adoration, lust, hope, she had glimpsed all of those. She couldn't afford for this to happen, she couldn't let herself be sold on something that could never even have a chance to happen. What had originally been nothing more than a crush on a gorgeous boy had, much like her, begun to evolve. By the time an hour had passed, Rogue had managed to calm down, if only enough to take a shower and get dressed. Standing in front of her door, she took a deep breath. Steeling herself, she opened the door, and left her room.

The last hour had been the purest form of torture imaginable for Zeke. Not for the first time, he wished he didn't have enhanced senses. He had been able to clearly hear Rogue's weeping, and it had brought him face to face with his greatest fear: He was becoming deeply attached, something he had sworn he would never do again. _I thought I learned my lesson on this. Every person I've ever cared about has died. The last time, with Serdea, all but destroyed me._ Zeke thought, his thoughts becoming increasingly darker and more depressed as the hour went on. Rogue's sobbing may have been silent to everybody else, but to him it was crystal clear, and every shuddering sob sent waves of pain throughout his being. He was in the dining room when he heard her door open, and he made a resolution. _I cannot deny that I have strong feelings for her. Even the beast is calmed in her presence. This time, this time I will die before I let anything harm her._

Rogue walked slowly down the hall, her head down. Reality had come crashing down on her like a ton of bricks. Without the ability to touch, how could any kind of relationship evolve? Walking into the dining room, her head snapped up when she heard the voice she both dreaded to hear, and hung on every word it uttered. She saw Zeke talking to Rahne Sinclair of all people, and the wave of jealousy that washed through her was unlike anything she had ever felt, and more poisonous as well. She couldn't help it. She glared at the younger girl. Zeke's head twisted, and she blushed violently when she realized that, once again, he could probably smell every emotion she was feeling. Bidding Rahne good-bye, Zeke walked to a chair, sitting down, before motioning for her to join him. Slightly unsure of herself, she dubiously took him up on the offer. Immediately after she sat down, he began to speak. "So, do you want to explain what the last hour was about?"

Rogue's eyes widened, then her entire body seemed to sag. "It's just that I hate my power."

Zeke laughed. "Join the club. At least your power doesn't come with an inner monster that all but salivates at the thought of rolling in the blood of every living thing around you."

"At least you can touch the people you care about." Rogue shot back, becoming slightly irritated.

Zeke's good mood darkened faster than Rogue would have thought possible. "Every person I've ever cared about has died." he stated, his word holding a haunting finality. Rogue could barely hear what he whispered next. "Which is why I'm so worried about you."

Rogue felt her entire world lift up, but reality, or at least reality as she perceived it, wouldn't let her go so easily. "So what, do you like me or something? If you do, you're completely out of luck. How can you build a relationship with the total absence of touch?"

"Touch is completely inconsequential, neither necessary nor needed. It's merely a way to express the feelings involved." was his calm reply, though inside his chest his heart was beating like a jackhammer.

Rogue thought about it, and more importantly, about what he had just said, and the hidden meaning she saw. _So he's willing to try some sort of touch prohibited relationship._ It was possibly one of the sweetest things she had ever heard from a male's mouth.

Rogue was on cloud nine, and there was no stopping her euphoria. For the moment, she was happy, or as happy as she could be. When Zeke grabbed her a plate from the center of the table, she began to eat, her mouth twisted into a slight smile the entire time. Zeke's head snapped to the door, then he grinned. "If you value your hearing, you might want to cover your ears." he said, following his own advice. Staring at him quizzically, Rogue complied, and moments later, was glad that she had. Kitty had come storming into the dining room, her face twisted into an expression of rage that was entirely out of place on the normally sunnily-dispositioned girls face. It was actually quite comical. Looking at the other's faces, she guessed that Kitty was searching for some never before heard note. Glancing at Rahne, she felt a stab of pity for the girl. Rahne's ears, due to her mutation, were naturally more sensitive than a normal humans. Not by as freakishly huge an amount as Zeke's were, but still enough that the poor girl was actually crying from what Rogue guessed was pain, her hands having clamped over her ears a second to late. Kitty, having satisfied her urge to screech at everybody till they were deaf, then went even further into her temper tantrum. In a fit of childish pique, she slammed her hand onto the table and rendered it intangible. As platters and plates crashed through the once solid surface to break on the floor, Zeke's hand dived through the table and caught Rogue's plate.

Unfortunately for Zeke, though he had managed to save Rogue's breakfast, a new problem had presented itself. The table was only intangible due to Kitty's power. Once she removed her hand, it became solid once again, and Zeke's arm became firmly lodged in the solid wood table. Looking up, he saw Kitty about to leave, her scent absolutely reeking of self-satisfaction.

Rogue's eyes were locked on the table in front of her, fascinated by Zeke's arm going through the table. Her eyes flicked up, and she caught a look at Zeke's face. He was anything but amused. His eyes flicked to the doorway, and Rogue barely repressed a shudder of fear. "Kitty!" he barked, instantly gaining the attention of the girl in question, effectively stopping her in her tracks. "I'd like my arm back, if it wouldn't be too much trouble." Yep, definitely not amused.

Kitty gulped, visibly regretting her temper tantrum, before tentatively reaching out and touching the table. Zeke pulled his arm out of the table, Rogue's plate still firmly in hand. Setting it down on the table, he made his way over to Kitty, coming to a halt in front of the now trembling teenager. " In the future, refrain from allowing your immature rages to touch those undeserving of your wrath. Direct it with more skill. The moment you let your anger control you is the moment you do something you regret, much like now." Inclining his head to Rogue, Zeke exited the dining room, his sudden departure punctuated by a collective sigh of relief.

Rogue looked with interest around the now eerily silent room _Zeke tends to have this effect on people._ she noted absently. There was something about Zeke that reeked of the primal, and the other X-Men felt and feared it. Standing up, she walked over to Rahne, who still had tears in her eyes. "Are you all right?"

The young Scottish girl nodded. "Yeah. I suppose Kitty was jus' a wee bit loud, huh?"

Rogue smiled. "Hey, if you don't mind my asking, what were you and Zeke talking about when I came in?"

Rahne looked a bit confused, and then her eyes cleared in understanding. "Tha' was jus' a bit of, I don't know, pack dynamics. Me and him have the same mutation, but his is so much stronger than mine. I was sort of acknowledging him as my pack leader, if ya can understand tha' without being to revolted."

Rogue nodded, feeling a bit relieved that Zeke hadn't been flirting with the much younger girl. Turning around, she left the dining room to chase down her crush.

Coming into the main entranceway, she caught sight of Zeke leaving the mansion, and she quickly ran after him. When he looked at her, one eyebrow raised, she just smiled at him, and then looked closer. She could have sworn that for a second, he had looked like he'd been smacked by a sledgehammer. Zeke's mind was quite busy babbling gibberish in three different languages. Who knew a little smile could do so much.

For the next hour, Rogue and Zeke walked in relative silence, neither with any kind of desire to start a conversation, just enjoying one another's company. While Rogue couldn't touch him, she found that he was right. Touch was inconsequential, so long as the feelings held by both were mutual.

Random chance. Coincidence. At times, these are merely synonyms for catastrophe, accident, and death. The seeming smallest of things can play the most spectacular of roles imaginable in life. There is a saying that dropping a pebble in water will one day cause a wave to form, so what happens when a nail is in the road? Two men in their early twenties hadn't had a good day so far. Waking up, they had been forty minutes late getting up to go to their cousin's house. They had promised to help her move, and were in a hurry to get there, and maybe avoid the scolding that was sure to come. In the bed of their pick-up, several pipes just over an inch in diameter rolled around, something that they had been meaning to take care of. These two things, nail in the road and pipes in the truck, came together to become potentially dangerous. The one thing needed to make this dangerous was soon presented: The two men were speeding down the road with that single nail.

Rogue looked at Zeke, happy that she was with him, at least for the moment. He scared her, intrigued her, and somehow, he had made her care for him. Honestly, it was like he had done it without even trying, and who knows, maybe he had. The next minute was made of memories that, years later, would still cause Rogue to jerk awake, the nightmares that awoke her only half present. With a terrible bang, followed by a horrendous squealing sound, the tire of a truck speeding down the road blew out, and the driver lost control. The car was pulled onto the side of the road before hitting the thick concrete wall of a home on the side of the road. The loudest crash that Rogue had ever heard followed as the truck flipped, catapulting through the air faster than she would have believed possible. The truck had just stopped when it simply exploded, ending the unfortunate life of one of the two men, and dangerously injuring the other. However, that was not the worst of it. One of the pipes in the bed had been sent flying away from the truck with a great deal of force when it exploded, sailing straight for Rogue. Seeing it coming, and with no chance of getting out of the way on time, her short life began to flash before her eyes.

Suddenly, Rogue found herself in the air, flying after some great force had plowed into her side. Smacking her head quite hard on the ground as she came down, the last sight she saw before losing consciousness was that of Zeke, his face expressionless, with a foot long pipe sticking from his chest.

Zeke's chest was filled with a burning agony, but pain was something he was used to. Looking at the pipe, he smirked. _I'm one lucky son of a bitch. An inch to the left and I'd probably be dead right now. Thank god for my enhanced constitution. Still hurts like a bitch though_. It did at that. Despite being used to extreme pain, the amount that Zeke was in almost stopped him from moving. With a great deal of grimacing, Zeke reached up and ripped the pipe out of his chest, leaving a hole that began to bleed profusely. His face pale, Zeke bit his tongue to keep from screaming. Looking to the side, he saw Rogue's collapsed form, and all feelings of pain, as well as the quickly rising exhaustion form blood loss vanished, leaving him alert and worried. Grabbing his cell phone, he quickly dialed a number, hoping that he had remembered it right. He gasped a quick breathe of relief when he heard the gruff tones of Logan's voice. "There's been an accident. Sniff me and Rogue out as quickly as you can. Just follow the pheromone trail." Zeke said before hanging up, not allowing Logan to respond.

Stumbling over to Rogue, Zeke began to feel light headed, before he fell, hitting the ground hard, though he could no longer feel it. He passed out next to Rogue in a growing pool of his own blood. That was the sight that greeted Wolverine, Storm, and Cyclops when they pulled up in the X-Van just a few minutes later.

A Few Hours Later

Rogue was in a strange darkness, semi-aware, though she did not know that time was passing. Opening her eyes, she was momentarily confused. _What the hell am I doing in the mansion's medical center?_ With a jolt, Rogue remembered what she had seen before she passed out. Leaping out of her bed, she immediately collapsed again. Gritting her teeth, she got back to her feet. She had a massive headache, but she wouldn't let something like that stop her. Still stumbling slightly, she walked over to the room reserved for emergencies. If Zeke was going to be anywhere in the mansion, it would be there, that is, he would be as long as he didn't have a healing factor. Rogue desperately hoped he did. Entering the room, she looked with relief at the form of Zeke lying in the bed, the right side of his chest swathed in bandages. It wasn't as good as if he had a healing factor, but considering that his breathing was even, she would take what she was given. Scanning the room, she wasn't surprised to see Logan in a chair against the wall, but she was surprised to see Scott next to him. She had been under the impression that Scott didn't like Zeke. "Good, you're up." Logan said as he and Scott stood, though they both kept their distance. Rogue noticed that she was in a hospital gown, and grimaced. _White just isn't mah color._ She thought. If she had to take a guess, she would say that it had been Kitty and Jean who had changed her, probably using the long sleeved jackets and gloves kept for just in case she got hurt and they had to handle her while she was unconscious. The bad thing about the hospital gown was that it didn't cover nearly as much skin as she would have liked.

"So, is he gonna be all right?" she asked, concern evident in her voice.

Logan grunted. "Don't worry Stripes, your boyfriends gonna be just fine. Looks like instead of a full healing factor like me, he has an enhanced constitutionas well as a very weak healing ability, just enough to be considered twice as fast as a regular humans. The kid could probably stay completely conscious through things that would knock me out, though he almost definitely wouldn't survive those instances."

Rogue had blushed furiously when Logan called him her boyfriend, and was quick to correct him. "He's not mah boyfriend. I wish he could be. I don't think that I've ever wanted anything more than that right now, but he's not."

Logan looked at her, his eyes unreadable. Scott took the opportunity to leave the room, but Logan didn't move, didn't even blink. "Rogue, he may be more resilient to damage than most other people, but he very nearly died for you. He'd lost about two and a half liters of blood before we got there. Personally, I think that whether or not you can touch him doesn't matter at this point. It's more about the strength of the feeling involved."

Rogue held Logan's gaze for a moment before she started to laugh. "You know, he said very nearly the same thing this morning. I'll have to think about it."

Logan nodded. "Well, I'll leave you alone with him. Expect the Professor to want to talk with you later though." That said, he left, and Rogue grabbed his recently vacated chair, taking it next to Zeke's bed. For a quarter of an hour, she watched him, simply staring, not talking, not moving. She simply thought. _This is ridiculous. Why am I falling so hard for someone that I met just a couple weeks ago?_ She asked herself, then immediately began to tick off a mental list of the reasons. _Let's see, he's drop dead gorgeous, he doesn't mind writing poetry, he has a deliciously skewed sense of humor, and with just a smile he makes me go all weak in the knees. Then there's the not so little fact that he saved my life, nearly at the cost of his own. _Shortly afterward, her eyes began to droop. Pulling the blanket on his bed over him, she laid her head down on it, and fell asleep.

Zeke's eye flashed open, and in less than a second was totally aware of his surroundings, and trying to decide if it was a good or bad thing. The part that was making it bad was the pain that was still flaring in his chest with every beat of his heart. The part that was good was he had woken up to see Rogue's angelic features composed in sleep. Definitely the best thing he could have woken up to, especially since he was the pillow, even though it was his chest she was laying her head on. He felt a curious tingling in his left hand, but since that was the side she was laying her head on, he couldn't see it. Judging it to be of not nearly enough importance to wake Rogue, he settled back, watching Rogue with eyes that gradually became more and more weighted, before he fell into a deep sleep, the first sleep without nightmares he had had in several years.

The two slept throughout the remainder of the day, and well into the night. Nobody but Kitty thought to check on them, and she just smiled and left. She didn't mind that she had lost out on a chance with the yummy hunk. Truth be told, Rogue deserved a little romance to take her mind off of things.

Zeke was the first to wake up all the way. He frowned when he realized that the tingle was still there, but the frown morphed quickly into a smile when he saw that Rogue had woken up as well. She looked a little out of it, but smiled when she saw he was awake. Zeke felt his heart skip along for a couple of beats. That smile of hers was a dangerous weapon. He would do anything she asked if she just smiled at him.

Rogue frowned. Her hand was tingling strangely. Not in a bad or painful way, in fact, it was kind of comforting, but even so, she wasn't sure she liked it. She started to push herself to her feet, but stopped halfway through, her eyes locked on her tingling hand. Zeke followed her wide eyed gaze, and immediately understood what had caught her attention. Somehow, either during the time they were asleep, or maybe it was because Rogue hadn't covered him right, Rogue's hand had landed on his. Normally, this wouldn't have been a bad thing, except for one thing: Her gloves were gone. Rogue had braced herself, whether for the assault of his memories as she downloaded his mind, or the surge of his powers going through her, but after a minute of nothing, relaxed fractionally. She was terrified, and beyond confused, and desperately needed someone to explain things to her. Gathering herself, she started to give a mental cry that she was sure would be heard by the Professor, but then her wits scattered to the wind as Zeke sat up and kissed her. The tingle spread to her lips, but Rogue didn't care in the slightest.

Zeke didn't understand what everyone's fuss about Rogue's power was about. If all it did was tingle, why the hell should she have to cover every inch of her skin? The tingling was strange, but once he got used to it, the kiss became extraordinarily enjoyable. That's when all hell began to break loose, as he lost control of his pheromones totally, and all the pleasure and desire he was feeling in that moment was immediately felt by Rogue. Realizing that if he didn't back off quickly things might get a little hard to explain to anybody walking in, he broke the kiss, leaving a dreamy eyed Rogue in hanging in the air. "So, is that all your power does, a slight tingle? Is everybody so afraid of you copying their powers that you cover yourself up completely? Personally, I don't really care, but I'd advise you to stay away from any memories you get from me. They won't be very pretty."

With a start, Rogue broke from her dream state, and the mental cry she sent out was enough to make Professor Xavier jerk in his wheelchair, before he broke off the conversation he'd been having with Logan and began a single-minded drive toward the elevator that led to the lower levels. Logan had no idea what had happened, but judging from the direction that Chuck was heading, it probably had to do with Rogue and Zeke. He hoped she hadn't done anything stupid to the boy, like kiss him.

The sight that they found in the medical bay was like some horrible cliché. Rogue was standing next to Zeke's bed, and the boy had swung his legs off the bed, letting the long extremities rest on the floor, his back slumped in his sitting position. Logan got a whiff of the room and almost gagged. The boy's pheromones were all over the place, and they smelled horrible. Rogue looked at the Professor, and held up her's and Zeke's linked hands, saying just one word, which was a question and a declaration of the impossible at once. "How!"


	4. Pending Update

**I'm almost back people. I am sorry for my silence in the last five months, as I have been undertaking the extraordinarily exhausting task of joining the U.S. military. I still have another two months before my training is complete, and in that time, I will be undertaking a complete rewrite of every story currently online.**

**For The Ice Lord and The Silver Wolf**

**I will be predominantly fleshing this story out, adding detail and character thought processes where possible, but expect no major changes to the set storyline.**

**I may also add a few more arrancar, as there are a few whose deaths were ambiguous.**

**For The Rogue Romance**

**Expect major revisions to early chapters, as well as some fleshing out of Zeke. There will also be more character interactions.**

**For The Sealed Blade Of The Spiral Ninja**

**While in basic, I continued to construct and alter this world, and the end result doesn't match-up with the beginning. Fleshing out of the storyline, as always, with a flashback arc taking place between graduation and wave explaining some of Naruto's past and how he thinks and differs from cannon Naruto. **

_**Upcoming stories**_

**These are just random plot bunnies that stampede though and appear interesting enough.**

**The God of the Blade and The Ice Maiden**

**Category: Miscellaneous**

**Rating: M**

**Is a lemon scene between two oc's that I wrote on a dare from a friend, which then received stellar reviews from the rest of my class.**

**The Hell Swan**

**Category: Anime/Manga-Naruto**

**Rating: M**

**Summary: When the Akatsuki came for her, Fu, the Nanabi jinchurriki, gave up without a fight, preferring death to the continued misery of her empty existence. What would have happened had somebody truly cared for her? Would the Nanabi jinchurriki have been able to carve her own legend? Fu/OC, Anko/Zabu, femNaru Natsuki/Haku.**

**Titles for upcoming stories are not official, and are subject to change.**


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